Parental responsibility is a thing of the past

Another victory for parents who should not be parents.  Linda Kaiser of Elgin has successfully campaigned to get Roman shades recalled. After losing her child in a tragic accident involving a window blind Mrs. Kaiser started the “Parents for Window Blind Safety” group in the hopes of getting the blinds (that she purchased and apparently let her children play with) recalled.  

Well they are being recalled, good job Linda.  After all why should you have to look after your own children and keep them safe?

One of the first things that my wife and i did after finding out that we were going to have a baby was to go through the house and look for things that could, potentially, be harmful to a baby.  We plugged up outlets, secured this and that, and thought of worst case scenarios to find problems.  We never let our babies play alone and we were always within arm’s reach of our children.  We know that things happen and have tried to keep them from happening.  Every day I have waking nightmares about my child falling and hurting himself or my daughter getting a hold of something that she shouldn't.  This is what keeps me vigilant. This is what keeps my children alive. It’s my job and my wife's job to keep our children from harm. 

This is just one of the many ways that Americans shove off their responsibility and blame others for their problems.

You can read the article here and this was my response, just in case they don't print it.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/12/elgin-woman-led-fight-leading-to-window-covering-recall.html

My response:

Responsible parent

This is a great win for parents who are too lazy to baby proof their own homes. It’s not my fault that I left something that could be deadly within my child’s grasp. Think I’m insensitive, too bad. This kind of thinking is just some of what is wrong with this country. Look I’m sorry the woman lost her child but if she had been paying attention to her little girl, or been proactive and done something about the danger zone of a home that she lives in, then maybe her daughter would be here today. Take some responsibility people and stop blaming others. This was not a toy that was improperly made; this was a something that a child should have never been touching in the first place. Should we recall all tubs because parents let their children alone to drown in them? It’s the same thing people.

Oh the pain

Yes it still hurts and no, I can’t talk yet. Last night my sister in law came in for a visit at about 4am. We knew that she was coming so we were waiting. It was cold and after she got settled in with her husband and dogs we tried to sleep. That didn’t happen but I did read a lot of my book. I’m on chapter 24 and it’s great. Tomorrow is thanksgiving and I don’t think that I’m going to be able to eat that much. Oh well. I’ve lost 15 lbs on my “no solid food diet” more tomorrow if I survive.

Stargate Universe

Still Hurts

I still cant talk and yes it still hurts.

I can’t talk

Today has been a very busy day for me. I woke up at 7am and took a shower then helped get the kids ready to go next door for the day. After my heart broke at the sound of my son crying, due to my leaving, my wife and I left for the hospital. Today I got my tonsils out. Let me just tell you that it hurts. Not as much as I thought it would but it still hurts. I can’t talk, I can hardly eat, drinking is a little bit of a chore, but I got Perkasets. I will be out of work until December 3^rd but I still have to do my school work. Oh well, can’t win them all.

I was lucky and did not have to spend the night. There was some question as I sleep with a C-PAP machine and have sleep apnea. After picking up the kids and giving them dinner my son asked me to read him a book. If you remember from the first paragraph I can’t talk. It’s a good thing that my son and I both have a passable vocabulary of sign language. Using our unspoken communication we went through every page of the book and even added commentary. Go Dogs Go.

Well I’m going to bed where I am sure that my lack of tonsils will continue to hurt. Good night all.

 

Whats in a name?

I came across this article on my favorite news site Fark.com and it really saddened me as well as angered me. It concerns a man (in title only) who is getting married and has decided to take his wife’s name rather than she take his. Look people, I’m old fashioned and I have my reasons for being old fashioned. There are so many things that happen when you get married, mentally emotionally and spiritually and although I am no psychiatrist, or psychologist but I can tell when people are doing something monumentally wrong. I have posted the article here as well as my comments on it. There is also a link to the article so that you can read the reactions from others.

http://www.momlogic.com/2009/07/i_took_my_wifes_last_name.php

My comments: "To tell the truth I really feel sorry for your marriage. The act of taking the name of the husband is much more than just giving up your name. It symbolizes that you are putting your trust in the man that you are going to spend the rest of your life with. You are leaving the protection of your father’s house and coming under the protection of a husband who will provide for your needs physically, mentally, and spiritually. When you take the name of your wife you are telling her that you don’t really care for her enough to take on that burden. She has to look toward her own well being and frankly it’s this type of mentality between husbands and wives that make for short marriages. In my view a woman who doesn’t take her husband’s name is not committing to the marriage and a man who doesn’t demand that the wife take his name has no intention of staying with her when things start to get rough. People are not taking marriage seriously anymore. It was my understanding that women wanted strong men who could provide and protect them and their children. if you can’t be proud enough of your husband to take his name then maybe you shouldn’t be marrying him, and if your forcing him to take your name then, ladies, you deserve the (wo)man you get. As for a man changing his name to that of his wife’s I can only say that you dishonor you fathers and entire family who had hoped to raise you to be a real man. Stand up, be a MAN, and show some pride in yourself and show your soon to be wife that there is something in you to be proud of."

Stupid Police

Hello everyone, today we have another example of just how stupid people can be. In this case the stupid people are the police. There have been many incidences where the police have been accused of misconduct and abuse. In fact there are whole websites devoted to this topic. In this age of YouTube we can now have almost instant documentation of such abuses. I myself had an incident where the providence police pulled me over and threatened “beat me up in front of my girlfriend.” The police were parked in a parking lot with their lights off and I had made a left hand turn onto the street where I live. I was pulled over and given no reason for the stop and when I asked what I had done that was when I was threatened. If there had been camera then I am sure that this would not have happened.

These videos can be found all over the internet and I believe that the police often forget that they have them mounted on their own squad cars. One of the best videos was taken by a driver who had cameras mounted inside his car with a wireless uplink to his website. We can see in the video that the driver was following all the proper laws and procedures and was still stopped. When he asked what he had done he was told that he had not signaled when he turned (the video clearly showed the blinker turned on during the turn. The police officer then threatens the driver offering to make up charges and arrest him. All the while the driver can be heard responding politely and respectfully. The police officer then notices the camera and quickly backtracks and lets the driver go. My favorites are the videos of police misusing the tasers. These videos just make me want to move to Alaska away from all civilization and this police state that we are turning into.

This latest video that I have found clearly shows an officer losing control of his emotions and abusing his authority by arresting a member of the media for interviewing witnesses to an accident. The police officer orders the reporter to leave and when he, on his way back to the truck, states that the camera man can film the accident, the reporter is accosted. The police officer puts his hands on the reporter, stopping him from returning to his truck and when the reporter states that he is trying to leave the officer asks him is he wants to be arrested. Then we see a trick that officers use all the time. I know this because I was told by a police officer that they are trained to do this.

The trick is to yell out actions that the person is accused of performing, actions that allow them to respond physically, even though no such actions have taken place. Officers will yell out things like “lower your hands” or “stop resisting” even if the hands are not raised and the person is not resisting. The belief is that if they state the action, later it can be documented and in effect proven that the actions have taken place even though they have not. With the widespread availability of camcorders and video phones this practice is easily spotted and called out for the manipulation and out and out lie that it is. In the video the officer yells out “take your hands off of the truck” even though the reporter is not touching the truck. The officer arrests the man even though he is trying to comply with the officers demands. What happens here is an emotional response to a tense situation. The officer gives an order and when it is not followed immediately the officer feels that his authority is threatened, then in order to keep his sense of superiority he must follow through with the only option that allows him to save face and that is to arrest the person. That will show them. Don’t get me wrong, I have great respect for police officers and feel that the majority of them do a great job. There are some however that feel that they have to display their authority like they would their badge. They are what we would have called bullies in high school. It is when this power goes to their heads that we hear stories of people getting tazed for little to no reason upwards of five to ten times while on the nearly unconscious. I have seen videos of police officers tackling children for throwing snowballs at other children or skateboarding, videos of officers knocking cyclists off of their bikes for no apparent reason. There have also been sting operations setup by people to catch police abusing their powers in other ways such as obtaining search warrants with no probable cause what so ever. People such as “Johnny justice” filming officers breaking traffic laws for no other reason other than they knew that they could get away with it. I believe that the police have entirely too much power over people in their everyday lives. They can fill out paper work with statements such as “the suspect approached in a threatening manner” and these statements are purposefully vague and completely subjective. I believe that it is high time the police are called to obey the same laws that they enforce. In this most recent video there was no reason for the officer to touch the reporter or to threaten him. Below are some links to sites that show police abuse of power. Remember that not all police abuse their power but it does seem that way doesn’t it?

http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=10216950

http://www.jimmyjustice4753.blogspot.com/

http://www.badphoenixcops.com/

http://www.videosift.com/video/Odessa-cops-raid-fake-drug-den-get-caught-on-camera

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnI_xM5ujo4&feature=related

Just remember, you asked.

I feel that a great injustice has been done. I found an article today about a magistrate who was forced to quit his position after speaking his mind when asked about the topic of gays. (Article is here) The sad thing is that this man, who served 30 years respectfully, was asked for personal feelings and then was persecuted for those feelings. This is a case of discrimination but not against gays. If you don’t want to hear what people have to say then don’t ask them. When you ask questions you have to be prepared for answers that you don’t want to hear. To cry about those answers is childish and unfair. What this tells me is that there is only one thought that can be had here and that is the thought of those in authority. If you disagree with the majority then you are persecuted. Forget any type freedom that you thought you had because if you happen to voice an opinion that is contrary to what is currently the mainstream then you’re not fit to live in this world. This is very sad indeed that a man who did a great job for 30 years (we can tell because he had the job for 30 years) was forced to step down because someone didn’t like what he had to say. Listen people, if we wanted we could find offence in everyone, we just have to look hard enough.
What is even more sad is that apparently the authority of who should and should not be sitting in judgment of people is not a lawyer or another judge but a “former Celebrity Big Brother contestant” I’m happy that Mr. Watkins is pleased to see that attitudes have changed because if attitudes had not changed there would be a lot more people losing their jobs. Not because they had done something wrong but because they had a mind of their own.
How do I feel about gays? I feel sorry for them. Let me tell you people: when you take a gay man or woman and separate them from the sexual aspect of their life, there wonderful people. The idea of homosexual sex is just repugnant to me and I feel that (and this is my personal belief so if you don’t like it too bad) people who are homosexual have something wrong with them. This is where everyone starts telling me that I’m a terrible person and that I deserve to die a painful death. I don’t care. I can look past the sexual aspect of a person and truly care for them but don’t ask me to like and agree with the choice to be homosexual. Either something is not right in their minds or they were taken advantage of as a child because the main reason for existence is to procreate and perpetuate the species and homosexual sex cannot accomplish this.
Oh no here comes the religion. Look out people this is where I really offend. I’m not a religious fanatic but I do believe in the Bible. Some people consider that a character flaw others believe it makes you feebleminded. Frankly I don’t care what others believe, as you can tell by this post. For those of you who call yourself Christians or any variation of that category you have to take a stand against homosexuality. You cannot sit on the fence. You have no choice because that is what the Bible tells you to do. You cannot pick and choose what to believe when it comes to this book, it’s all or nothing. Some things we have to take on faith and others are open to interpretation. Some things are black and white and homosexuality is just that. The Bible says that homosexuality is an abomination (Leviticus 18:22). For those of you who do not know an abomination is defined as a vile, shameful, or detestable action, condition, habit, etc. Some explain this reference away by quoting other scriptures in that book that mention abominations but the reasoning is flawed. Without going into mistranslations from the original Hebrew, Greek, and other languages and disregarding dietary stipulations we can safely say that these people are doing exactly what they claim Christians are doing, twisting the bible to suit their own needs. The Bible says to hate the sin but love the sinner and yes homosexuality is a sin. I am not saying go cry out in outrage against the great gay beast but certainly do not keep your feelings to yourself. Don’t hate gays, love them. Show them all the compassion that you would show any member of your family (you should be doing this for everyone regardless). But when asked, let it be known that you know that it is a sin and that it is wrong. Gay men and women, when you hear a person tell you, when you ask, that your homosexuality is wrong, don’t be offended remember that you asked.

Tea bags to congress

I find it funny that an article in today’s Salt Lake Tribune by Thomas Burr that speaks of a protest by the American people in the form of sending a tea bag to government officials makes no mention of any of the internet videos encouraging the idea. Personally I think that it is a wonderful idea that brings us back to our roots. Indeed, there was such a protest some two hundred and more years ago where tea was a large factor and that demonstration accomplished a great deal. The only mention of this event was a reference to a brand of tea with the same name.

I am speaking, of course, of the famous Boston Tea Party. On December 16, 1773, for those of us who need a history refresher, in response to the Tea Act passed in parliament, colonists boarded a ship owned by the British East India Company and destroyed a large shipment of tea. The ship had tried to unload the tea at three other colonies but due to protesters was unable. When it arrived at Boston harbor the Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson refused to allow the tea to be returned to Britain. That night patriots (not the football team) boarded the ship and disposed of the tea over the side. After this one thing led to another and here we are today.

Getting back to the article, I think that the author misses the whole point of the protest. People are sending tea bags to their representatives in protest to taxes yes, but it is also much more. It’s not just about taxes; it’s about the lack of accountability in the legislative bodies. There is one video in particular that really puts it in prospective. I have included it here. The article focuses mostly on the unintended effects of the protest. With the threat of anthrax a real possibility, the recipients of the tea protest are understandably wary of unusual substances in their post. Although this atmosphere is unfortunate perhaps it will strengthen the outcome of the protest. It bothers me that the story was only half completed. There was so much more information that needed to be brought to light. There can only be two explanations for this slap-dash type of journalism. Either the author was 1) unaware of any other information that could be relevant and did no research, or 2) the author was restricted as to what he could report by the newspaper so as not to perpetuate the protest. The truth may never be known. As the late great commentator Paul Harvey used to say, “now you know the rest of the story”
The article in the Salt Lake Tribune can be found here.

Reoccurring theme

I think that a reoccurring theme in my blogs will be the overwhelming necessity for people display their ignorance and stupidity. I will be the first to say that I do not always do the right thing. I make mistakes aplenty and have no problem admitting to them. Just last week I realized that I had been going on and on about how the title of a movie was being pronounced wrong. I had, in fact, read the title wrong and the pronunciation was correct, silly me. Yes, most of my mistakes are much larger than the mispronunciation of a movie title but this was the most recent and I thought that I should go with it.
Today, as I do every day, I came home and read the news on my favorite website www.fark.com An article about a breastfeeding mother who had been asked to stop feeding caught my attention. That is an outrage you say? No, the mother was feeding her twenty-one month old child while swimming in a pool. Not a private pool where only your family swims (as if that would make a difference) but a public pool where anyone and everyone goes to relax. I fail to see any intelligent thought in this decision. When you enter a public pool you’re playing a scary game of odds, with all of the bacteria, urine, bodily fluids, other contaminants and chemicals found in a public pool, we should at the very least discourage the ingestion of any fluid while swimming. To breastfeed a toddler while swimming in what amounts to a large petri dish is not only unwise but disgusting.
Stupidity is natural and can be found in all life. As thinking humans we understand that when we’re “in the moment” stupid and often foolish reactions occur. As I read the comments after the article I was amazed at some of the comments of the readers who had the benefit of taking a step back and analyzing the situation. I think that some of the women readers stopped reading the article after they found out that the woman was asked to stop breastfeeding. These women then commented on how the rights of the lactating mother were being trampled upon without realizing that there might possibly be a reason for the request to stop feeding. Others commented on the benefits of breastfeeding and ignored the point that the woman was feeding in the pool.
I also want to say that I did find many well thought out posts from intelligent readers. There is hope out there for the human race but be sure that we are in the minority. I found one great comment from a “Louis G.” who wrote: I manage a fairly large swimming pool. There are far too many chances for bacteria to grow, believe me. We don't need to add to the problem. The local health department would shut this down pronto!
I feel that the lifeguard was well within his rights to order this woman out of the pool if for nothing else the safety of the child. I may be wrong here but I have to be honest, I don’t think so. You can find the article here and below I have included my comments for your benefit.



My goodness, people. Lets stand up for common sense. It’s one thing for a woman to be told that she cannot breastfeed her children and another for a woman to push her breastfeeding in places where it is unsafe for her, her child, and for others. A public pool is just one of many places where a woman should not breastfeed her children.
Just last summer there was a breakout of epidemic proportions of bacteria that causes severe diarrhea passed by swimmers in public pools. With all of the things floating around in a public pool we don’t need to knowingly add another body fluid. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe the smart thing to do would be to breastfeed our children in large community pools where people of questionable health and cleanliness go each day to relax their weary bodies. And since we all know that some children, no matter how much we may request that they do not, will urinate in a pool anyway, then why shouldn’t we eat and drink in it.
Use some common sense people (mothers). Breastfeeding, like other natural functions have a proper time and place. I may be just a MAN who cannot comprehend the bond that exists between a nursing child and its mother but I do know when enough is enough. Clearly the lifeguard was correct in telling this woman that she was not allowed to breastfeed her children in the pool. She should have gotten out and at the very least taken a seat somewhere and feed her children in a respectable manner. Remember that when you do not have respect for others you cannot have respect for yourself.

Sex Ed and Children having Children

I recently read an article in the Evening Post (Bristol,UK) about a secondary that used live naked men and women as teaching tools for its sex education class. The children were allowed to ask the models to move about and pose to better display their bodies. I would like to point out that the models were not accessible to the children and could only be viewed on a screen, there was no physical contact allowed. The story went on to praise this method of teaching and how much students learned from the experience. The workshop was set up to “give young people the sex education they are missing.” Apparently secondary schools across that country, along with channel four, have taken up the task of delivering the sexual education that parents should be providing.

After I read the story I found that there was an area for reader comments. Every now and then, if a story has struck a nerve in me, I will comment on an article. I take the trouble to sign up for an account that I will probably never use again just to voice my opinion. When I was deciding what to write for this story I did what I always do and read the comments that were already posted. One comment really got to me. It was from a woman who had lived through being a child mom and apparently had no issues with it. She had become pregnant at 15 and said that it was not her parents fault. She was from a “good home” and they had not been irresponsible. This person was already in an online conversation with another woman who had expressed her views about the sexual education techniques and the reasons for the increasing teenage pregnancy and STD rates. I felt that I had to put my two American cents in, which couldn’t be worth all that much with the current exchange rate.
In my post I mentioned that sex education should be the responsibility of the parent and that this type of teaching experiment offends me. As a matter of course there were the posts from the weak minded who attacked me based on the location attached to my screen name, but I ignored them. The conversation that followed moved away from the topic of sex education and into the realm of children having children. I tried to point out to the woman from the “good home” that having a child at the age of fifteen may not be the best thing to do. It’s not good for the parents or for the child or for the child of the child (there are three generations involved in that decision). She seemed unwilling to admit that there could have been mistakes in her past because things are working out well now. I guess what I was trying to say to the readers of the article and to that person in particular was “who is at fault here?” Is the young girl at fault for knowingly becoming pregnant, or is it the parents fault for not educating the girl about the consequences of those types of actions. Personally I believe that it is the parent’s responsibility to watch after their children and to keep them from making these types of mistakes by a combination of education, discipline and attentiveness. We have to teach our children that it is not acceptable to become pregnant at such a young age as well as teaching the mechanics of the situation. The article can be found here.